In Lucy Burdette's 11th Key West Food Critic mystery, newlyweds Hayley and Nathan embark on their long awaited honeymoon trip to Scotland....sounds like a dream, right? Add in their traveling companions (octogenarian neighbor Miss Gloria, and Helen, Nathan's mother), their hosts (Nathan's sister, Vera, and her husband), and the fact that their entire visit has been painstakingly planned to the minute, including lots of alone time on the golf course between Nathan and his brother-in-law, and it probably won't come as a surprise when they're involved in first a poisoning attempt, and then a suspicious death! A Scone of Contention was lots of fun to read, filled with lovely descriptions of the beautiful Scottish countryside and lots of yummy recipes! A+++

Key Zest food critic Hayley Snow and her groom, police detective Nathan Bransford, chose Scotland for their long-delayed honeymoon, hoping to sightsee and enjoy some prize-winning scones. But their romantic duo swells to a crowd when they're joined by Nathan's family as well as octogenarian Miss Gloria. Nathan's sister Vera takes the women on a whirlwind tour of some of Scotland's iconic mystic places as research for a looming book project. But the trip takes a deadly tartan turn when a dinner party guest falls ill and claims she was poisoned. And then the group watches in horror as a mysterious tourist tumbles to his death from the famous Falkirk Wheel, high above the Forth & Clyde canal. Vera and her friends deny knowing the dead man, but Hayley is not convinced. With one person dead, a second possibly poisoned, and the tension among Vera's friends as thick as farmhouse cheese, Hayley fears her long-awaited honeymoon might end with another murder.

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series, and I was delighted to be able to read this ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this latest installment.

For the 11th book in Lucy Burdette’s A Key West Food Critic Mystery series, she changes her venue to Scotland and it invigorates the series.

Hayley, Miss Gloria, and Nathan travel to Scotland to visit with his sister, brother-in-law and mother. While there someone is poisoned, someone falls to their death, and these events all coincide with the drama surrounding a book Nathan’s sister is writing.

I looked up every location and food reference in A Scone of Contention. And learned about Scottish heritage sites and “thin places”.

A Scone of Contention is another solid book in this consistently good cozy mystery series.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A SCONE OF CONTENTION-Lucy Burdette
A Key Wet Food Critic Mystery
Crooked Lane:A SCONE OF CONTENTION-Lucy Burdette
A Key Wet Food Critic Mystery
Crooked Lane:


This book is like a recipe-it is all in the details. In this sweet cozy that takes place on the road to and in Scotland by way of Key West.
Hayley Snow is a food critic. Her husband is a detective. This is the heroine and almost hero of the latest in a series of cozies that put friends and families first. This is #11 in the series so you are sure you are in good, if floured , hands. And there is a body. And oh my goodness but It is delicious. If you are an OUTLANDER fan, so much the better.
Anyone who quotes J. Ryan Stadal who said, “She hadn’t been blessed enough to have a conversation about rhubarb varieties with any in years” is all right by me.
The book ad the recipes work together well-go for the Cheese Scones. My friends and families liked them best!



This book is like a recipe-it is all in the details. In this sweet cozy that takes place on the road to and in Scotland by way of Key West.
Hayley Snow is a food critic. Her husband is a detective. This is the heroine and almost hero of the latest in a series of cozies that put friends and families first. This is #11 in the series so you are sure you are in good, if floured , hands. And there is a body. And oh my goodness but It is delicious. If you are an OUTLANDER fan, so much the better.
Anyone who quotes J. Ryan Stadal who said, “She hadn’t been blessed enough to have a conversation about rhubarb varieties with any in years” is all right by me.
The book ad the recipes work together well-go for the Cheese Scones. My friends and families liked them best!

A Scone of Contention felt like I was along with Hayley,A Key West food critic and Her husband,Nathan on their honeymoon in Scotland. This book would not have been complete without Ms, Gloria,Hayleys elderly friend.She brought her usual spunk to the book.Very descriptive with Scotland history and with the places they visited. But I enjoyed the mystery involving Nathan's sister and her friends more. A page-turner. Enjoyable and highly recommended.

Thank you netgalley for this book. This is a honest review.

A Scone of Contention by Lucy Burdette is another great book with recipes at the end. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Haley Snow works for KeyZest magazine in Key West. Haley and her husband Nathan are going off to Scotland for a delayed honeymoon. Then an older friend, Miss Gloria and Nathan's mother, Helen, are also going to visit Nathan's sister in Scotland. Nathan ends up being coerced to play golf, so the ladies go off exploring. This is not a romantic honeymoon at all. This story takes people through the history of Scotland and the wars that happened between the clans. Having seen parts of lower Scotland, I remember the food and the scenery. I would love to tour the Northern parts of Scotland. This book definitely got me interested in Lucy Burdette's books and makes me want to find more written by her. Thanks for an exciting book.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books, in return for an honest review. While the eleventh book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. This was a very enjoyable cozy and one I recommend. Hayley Snow is a food critic and writer for her local Key West newspaper. Newly married to Nathan, they’re on a slightly delayed trip to Scotland for their honeymoon. Accompanied by Hayley’s former roommate, octogenarian Miss Gloria and Nathan’s mom, Helen, Hayley and Nathan are visiting Nathan’s sister, Vera and her husband, William. When they arrive, however, things are not as welcoming as they’d hoped. Vera is immersed in a book about Scotland’s unique emotional history, as related to its historic places, and it’s put her under immense stress. William books Nathan to participate in a men’s only golf tournament for the first few days of their week’s vacation. Adding in the other members of the book writing, photographing and funding results in lots of tension for everyone. While the men play golf, the women visit various sites for the book so there should be something for everyone. When events kick off at a dinner party with an attempted poisoning and there’s a subsequent death at a different location, are they related or is it all coincidental?
Why are the book-writing team at such odds with each other? What secrets are they each hiding and how do those relate to the unexplained death?
All the characters are well-written and have distinct ‘voices’. At a time when we can’t travel, this is a lovely excursion to Scotland and its ineffable beauty and history. The author includes several Scottish-inspired recipes at the back that sound delicious.

So many books in and this series can still surprise me, in a good way. The two separate mysteries happening was fun, the location and food descriptions great, and the mystery kept me on my toes!

A fun cozy with sparkling characters that will delight new and old readers alike. While I had never read any of this series before it was easy enough to pick up what was going on but enough to entice you to want to read previous entries. Hayley Snow and her newlywed husband Nathan travel to Scotland to visit family and bring next door neighbor, Miss Gloria, an octogenarian, for a delayed honeymoon. Of course, murder and mystery are not far behind.

I liked the relationship between Hayley and Nathan, though it takes a backseat through most of the story because he is wrangled into a golf tournament for a few days. Miss Gloria and Hayley were center stage and it was lovely to see. Miss Gloria is spunky, funny but also smart. Other characters were interesting as well, but I have a feeling that some don’t show up often because they in Scotland, and others would be around much more often when the group is in Key West.

There are some good recipes and food is a common theme in this book. But not a big surprise when Hayley is a food critic. Each chapter started off with a quote from someone that referred to food and often they were from other mystery writers.
I enjoyed this and would gladly read more of this series. Bon Appetite.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hayley and Nathan are headed to Scotland for their honeymoon. Not only are they visiting Nathan’s sister and her husband, they’re being joined by Miss Gloria and Helen, Nathan’s Mother. What could possible go wrong with a honeymoon for six?

While in Scotland, Nathan’s sister, Vera, is working on some final work for the book she is publishing with college friends. So that means the ladies will be traveling with Vera and the group while the men participate in a golf tournament. Just when you get past a honeymoon apart, it’s an attempted poisoning and a suspicious death that really turns the honeymoon into mayhem. Lucy can’t help but ask questions, but without Nathan there, can she manage to keep herself and Miss Gloria from the killer’s crosshairs?



This is a great series, and this particular entry really stands out in the series. Key West and Scotland in the same book? I’m sold! While not a fan of Highlander (there, I admitted it) I do love the home of my forebears and the history mixed into this one made it feel more like a trip overseas during the pandemic. The cast is entertaining and the usual setting is always carefree and relaxing, aside from the murder itself. You HAVE to give this series a read if you haven’t yet.

This book was engaging and had my attention from start to finish. The characters were believable, and the plot was good. I really liked the fiesty character of Miss Gloria. I highly recommend this book to other cozy mystery readers.

The author did a great job of introducing a new twist to this long running series by sending Hayley and her new husband on a belated honeymoon trip to Scotland. She was also smart enough to anchor them to long running and much loved characters by sending Miss Gloria and Nathan's mother on the trip with them, and by having Hayley make frequent calls to pals back home in Key West. The result revitalized the much-loved series without losing any of the parts readers love--and the next entry in the series will feel all the fresher for the brief respite. As always, the food descriptions sound amazing, and the included recipes look lucious. If you love the series--and pretty much everybody does--this is another great entry.

Hayley and Nathan head off to Scotland for a honeymoon and a visit to his sister, accompanied by Hayley's former boatmate, Miss Gloria and Nathan's mother.. When they arrive, they discover that William, Nathan's brother-in-law has signed him up tp play in a golf tournament while his sister Vera will be taking Hayley, Miss Gloria and her mother sightseeing, accompanied by her fellow book collaborators on a book about Scotland's history.
At a welcoming dinner held by Vera's fellow collaborator Ainsley, A guest is poisoned. While the police investigate, the group heads off to sightsee. Unfortunately, at one of the stops, an unknown man is murdered. Hayley begins to investigate a possible connection between the two incidents, while documenting the food along the way for her Key West column.
Enjoyed learning more about Nathan's family, Scotland's history and the food. Love the interactions between the characters,

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

One of the challenges with cozy mysteries is that the heroine often winds up in doormat territory due to society’s expectations (and the predominantly small town atmosphere). But reading this book, it felt like the heroine was more a vessel for solving problems rather than a person.
Pre-leaving for her honeymoon, there’s an incident with her friend’s husband, Ray, waving a gun in public and being arrested. This requires Hayley to check in with her Key West crew nearly daily while on her weeklong “honeymoon”. I use quotation marks because it’s her, her husband, Nathan, and her former roommate, 80 year old Miss Glory. And her husband’s mother has decided to join them in Scotland, where they are staying with his sister. Upon arrival, they find out that his brother in law has signed him up for a three day golf tournament, including meals, so they won’t see each other for the first three days of their honeymoon. Who does that?
Vera, Hayley’s new sister-in-law, is working on a book project that has expanded beyond what she expected with her collaborators and there’s a lot of tension as they work towards finishing it by the deadline and showing Hayley some of the sights for the book along the way.
The overall tone of the book is just so busy. Vera’s collaborator is poisoned at a dinner and they witness a suspicious death while on tour; Miss Glory is traumatized by a VR experience at Glencoe. Hayley is looking into the mystery of what’s up with Ray, why was Glenda poisoned, is there a connection to the death on tour, trying to bridge the gap that’s grown between Vera and her mother and family, and comforting Miss Glory. Nathan is barely in the book; even when they get home, he just goes straight to work.
A lot happens in this book but as a reader, I wasn’t particularly invested in it. I just kind of wondered why all this is the heroine’s mess to clean up. And his family keeps talking about how happy her husband seems now - when he’s off golfing instead of spending any time with her - and I wondered why they were placing the burden of that on her. Guess it doesn’t matter if her own importance as a person isn’t relevant.

Review of eBook

Newlyweds Hayley Snow and Nathan Bransford are off to Scotland for their long-delayed honeymoon . . . with Nathan’s mother Helen, his sister, Vera, and his brother-in-law William. And accompanied by their octogenarian neighbor, the venerable Miss Gloria.

Vera’s welcoming dinner party includes her friends-since-college, Ainsley, her husband, Dougal, and Glenda, with her husband, Gavin. All are involved in Vera’s book project, a situation that has created some tension and discomfort for them. A claim of poisoning at the dinner party causes some anxious moments, but with the guest’s recovery, the group of friends continues with their plans. Nathan and William are off to play in a multi-day golf tournament; the rest of the group takes a whirlwind tour of some of Scotland’s emblematic “thin” places, research for the forthcoming book.

A tourist’s tragic fall from the Falkirk Wheel leaves everyone shaken; although Vera, Glenda, and Ainsley claim not to know the victim, Hayley believes their reactions say otherwise. What secrets are they keeping?

Faced with a possible poisoning and a suspicious death, Hayley can’t help but wonder if there will be another murder. Will she find the answers or will tragedy forever mar the memories of her Scottish honeymoon?

Eleventh in the Key West food critic mystery series, “A Scone of Contention” finds Hayley Snow caught up in mysteries at home and in Scotland. There’s enough backstory here for readers new to the series; taking the story [for the most part] out of Key West gives readers an opportunity to see Hayley in a different setting. Despite the change of scene, the story retains its ineffable charm.

Well-drawn, believable characters populate the narrative; many are like old friends and all of the expected characters in the series are in place. The characters are realistic, the mystery is compelling; readers will find themselves pulled into the telling of the tale from the first page.

Scotland comes to life with the unfolding of this captivating story; a strong sense of place anchors the intriguing mystery. Unexpected events keep the suspense building and readers will find it difficult to set this book aside before turning the final page. Don’t miss this scrumptious story.

Several recipes for dishes mentioned in the story are included in the book. [The scones are delicious!]

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley
#ASconeofContention #NetGalley

Hayley and Nathan head to Scotland on their honeymoon...along with Miss Gloria. Staying with Nathan's sister, the newlyweds are soon separated as Nathan is dragged to a golf tournament by his brother-in-law and Hayley accompanies her sister-in-law on a tour of "thin places". True to form, Hayley gets pulled into a murder investigation that ties to her SIL's troublesome book partners. The change of scenery from Key West brought a delicious change to the series, and it was fun to see Hayley operating out of her normal sphere. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for a digital arc via NetGalley.

Love this series and author. I highly recommend her books. It only took me a day to read her books. You can't put it down. I suggest reading her books in order.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of A SCONE OF CONTENTION (Book 11 of the Key West Food Critic Mysteries) by Lucy Burdette in exchange for an honest review. Hayley Snow’s honeymoon is not like other honeymoons. First, her elderly friend Miss Gloria and her mother-in-law accompany Hayley and her husband Nathan on their travels. Second, Nathan’s brother-in-law “kidnaps” Nathan for a multi-day golf tournament that results in dividing man from wife for the length of the event. Third, there’s the poisoning and the murder. The partial purpose of the trip to Scotland was to introduce Hayley to Nathan’s sister Vera. However, as Hayley spends time with her new sister-in-law, the more secrets Vera seems to have. With Nathan otherwise occupied, Hayley tags along as Vera and her coworkers/old university friends gather the final materials necessary to publish a guidebook to the historical and mystical places. However, Vera isn’t the only one with secrets, and tensions are a constant undercurrent within the group. Who would poison one of them, and is it possible that the stranger’s murder is somehow connected to the group? Hayley’s curious nature will lead her to figure out the secrets, bring the cause for the tension to the surface, and reveal the killer. Hmn, isn’t this the honeymoon of your dreams?

I liked this book and enjoy the series. I recommend this book to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, travel, Scotland, food, new family, and secrets.

#ASconeofContention #NetGalley

This is a cozy mystery for a snowy afternoon. The protagonist controls the story, and the book begins with the impression that the reader knows all about her and her family. This was confusing at first. I received a free Kindle copy from Netgalley for review. This is a quick read about a family of different characters. Enjoy

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

A trip to Scotland might sound romantic for a honeymoon but for Hayley and Connor things are less the idealistic when a murder takes place. Throw in a meddlesome mother-in-law and a sister and brother-in-law who conspire to keep them apart.

Hayley will witness a man falling to his death and people deny knowing the victim. Suspicious falls on her mother-in-law’s friend who insisted she was poisoned the night before when she doubled over from eating the salad but was able the next morning to go on a boat road tour.

Hayley and her mother-in-law will investigate the suspicious death as they try to save her mother-in-law’s friend from landing in the slammer. A delicious read.